Exhibit
by kmf
Summary: Most people would tire of such a gruelling agenda, but she never minded being the main exhibit at an event such as this. To her peace was more important that her health.


My first response to Smarty Cat's fanfic challenge on the subject of waxworks.

Warnings: Angst

Rating PG   
  
  
  
  
  
Exhibit   
  
  
by kmf   
  
  
  
He watched her silently as he always did. She stood tall and proud,   
resplendent in her latest designer fashion purchase and her hair was   
twisted up into an elaborate style. Her face was a mask of serenity;   
calm and peaceful, her mouth curved into the slight smile that she   
always wore when she was in public. Her eyes were a little duller   
than normal, missing the sparkle that usually enlivened them.   
  
She was generous with her time, never refusing to attend an event she   
was invited to in case it caused resentment amongst the people who   
curried her favour. Most people would tire of such a gruelling   
agenda, but she never minded being the main exhibit at an event such   
as this. To her peace was more important that her health.   
  
He often asked her to rest, to take time off, to go away somewhere   
with him so they could be alone together. Somewhere where they could   
spend time in each other's company away from the distractions and   
demands of their day to day existence. She would wrinkle her nose   
in a small frown as he tempted her with destinations where they could   
be an ordinary couple for a short while. Her eyes would glitter with   
excitement at the thought of a holiday away from the demands of the   
Ministry. But always she would put him off, saying that next month   
or next year would be better, that there would be plenty of time for   
them to enjoy each other once the world and colonies fully accepted   
peace. And he would acquiesce because he could never deny her   
anything she wanted.   
  
She stood still in the midst of a sea of people eager to see her, her   
gaze fixed on him. For once, he was off duty as her bodyguard and   
attended the event as her partner. Habit had taken over and he had   
distanced himself from her, blending into the crowd content to   
observe her from afar. She had been able to find him, her eyes   
seeking out his across the crowded room. They silently gazed at each   
other, sharing the moment content with each other's presence even   
though they were separated by the milling crowd.   
  
He frowned a little as she continued to stare at him, and his gaze   
travelling slowly down to the gown that she was wearing. It   
glimmered in the artificial light of the room, white and silver,   
clinging to her figure as if it was a second skin. He seemed to   
recall a red corsage pinned to her breast, startling blood red   
against the white fabric of her dress. It was not there now, but the   
thought of it made him feel uneasy; it made his heart beat faster   
almost painfully in his chest. Panicked, his eyes leapt back to her   
lips and once there safe he relaxed into her smile, his heart calming   
as thoughts of red against white faded from his mind.   
  
"....Heero..."   
  
Her whispered voice called to him across the room. His name on her   
lips made him forget everything else as it always did. He smiled and   
whispered hers back silently promising himself that soon they would   
be together.   
  
"Relena..." he breathed.   
  
  
  
* * * *   
  
  
  
A startled scream issued from a woman who had been sitting on the   
bench next to what she had assumed was a waxwork figure. Her   
partner, who had been crouched in front of her taking her photo,   
rocked back on his heels as she moved quickly away from the old man,   
her hand clutching her chest and her frame shaking with embarrassed   
laughter. He got to his feet, murmuring an apology to the old man,   
who had become still again, staring once more at the waxwork in front   
of him.   
  
Grinning, the man wrapped his arm around the woman's waist, giving   
her a squeeze of reassurance.   
  
"He's an actor," he said confidently, "I heard that they employ a few   
to give visitors a scare. If you watch long enough, you will see him   
catch someone else out."   
  
The woman smiled, glancing back at the white haired old man, his   
unusually deep blue eyes fixed and staring, his face pulled into a   
frown of concentration. Turning back to the exhibition, she watched   
her husband peer down at the display and listened as he read out   
details of the woman they were looking at.   
  
"Relena Peacecraft Dorlian. Brought peace to Earth and the colonies,   
and was assassinated shortly before her twenty fifth birthday. She   
is depicted in a copy of the outfit she was wearing to the function   
when she was killed," he paused crinkling his nose as he studied the   
figure. "She was a bit of a looker; beauty and brains."   
  
"Mmm, I remember studying about her when I was at school," the woman   
commented, peering at the old fashioned dress. "I recall that the   
assassin was just after the notoriety; he had no political   
affiliations at all. Wasn't he found beaten to death...?"   
  
She trailed off, as her husband obviously bored with the display,   
walked towards the next one. Following, she glanced back at the bench   
one more time. The old man remained still ignoring the curious stares   
and whispers of the visitors. She thought for a moment that his eyes   
looked sad and lost as he contemplated the long dead woman in front   
of him.   
  
Then she grinned. The atmosphere of the waxwork museum was obviously   
getting to her if she was thinking that he was pining for a woman   
dead nearly sixty years.   
  
After all, he was just a part of the exhibit.   
  
  
End


End file.
